Sharp County record., 1887-01-13

Know this: 1nero Is lOr you, my uedrSI, a
fed to culture, a harvest to reap, tear to
wpe away, a soul to save. Ii you have
worldly means, consecrate them to Christi
if 7ou have eloquence use it on the side
that Paul and Wilberforce used theirs; II
yol have learning, put it all into the poor
boz of the worlds suffering But If you
hare none of these-neither wealth, nor
elQuence, nor learning-you, at any rate,
hare a smile with which you can en-
courage the disheartened, a frown with
Which you may blast injustice, voice
witt which you may call the wanderer
bacl to God. "Oh," you say, that IS
very sanctimonious view OF liteP 1t IS
not. 1t is the only bright view OF lie, and
it is he only bright view Of death.
Contrast the death scene OF a man VINO
has measured life by the worldly standard
with the death scene of a man who has
measured life by the Christian standard.
Quini, the actor, in his last moments, sala:
81 hole this tragic scene will soon be over,
and hope to keep my dignity to the last"
Malhe'be said in his last moments TO hs
confesor: "Hold your tOnguel Your
miserable style puts me out of conceit with
Heaven Lord Chesterfield in his last
momelts, when he ought to have been
praying for his soul, bothered himself
about he proprieties of the sick room and
said: "Give Dayboles chair" Godfrey
Knella spent his last hours on earth in
drawing a diagram of his own monument.
Compare the silly and horrible departure
of sucl men with the seraphic glow on the
face q Edward Payson, as he said in his
last npments "The breezes OF Heaven
fan me l float in a sea Of glory" Or,
with Pail, the Apostle, who said IN his last
hour: Il am now ready TO be offered up,
and the lime of my departure is at hand.
I have fought the good fight l have kept
the faith Henceforth there is laid up for
me a crown of Righteousness which the
Lord, my righteous Judge, will give me-"
Or compare it with the Christian death-Ded
that you Witnessed in your own household.
Oh my friends, this world is a false godi
It will consume you with the blaze III
which it ac2spts your sacrifice, While the
righteous shall be held in everlasting re-
membranes; and when the thrones have
fallen, and the monuments have crumbled,
and the worldhas persisted, they shall ban
quet with the 1onquerors OF earth and ire
hierarch Of Helven.
This is a good day in which to begin q
new style of measurement. GLOW old art
thouW You seethe Christian way Of meas
uring life and the worldly way Of measur-
ing it. leave tito you TO say which is the
wlsest and best way. The wheel Of time
has turned very swiftly, and it has hurled
us on. The old year has gone. The new
year has come. FNr what you and l have
been launched upon it, God only knows.
Now let me ask you ALL Have you rAade
any preparation forthe future! You have
made preparation fo' time, my dear broth
er; have you made any preparation for
eternity? Do you wonder that when that
man on the Hudson liver, in indignation,
tore up the tract which was handed to him.
and Just one word landed on his coat sleeve
the rest of the tract being pitched into
the river-that one wou aroused his soul.
It was that one word, so long, so broad, SO
high, so deep-"eternityp A dying wom-
an, in her last moments said: Call it
back!" They said: "Whst do you want9"
''Time," she said; ''call it back" Oh, it
can not be called backl We might lose our
fortunes and call them hack; we might
lose our health and perhaps recover it; we
might lose our good name and get that
back; but time gone is gone forever,
Some Of you, during the past year, made
preparation for eternity, and it makes no
difference to you really, as to the matter Of
safety, whether you go now or go sons
other year-whether this year or the next
year. Both your feet on the rock, the
waves may dash around you You can say:
''God is our refuge and strength-a very
present help" You are or the rock, and
you may defy all earth and hell to over
throw you. l congratulate you | give you
great joy. 1t is happy New Year to you.
To all Christians it is time of gladness. !
am glad the years are going. You are com
ing on nearer home. Let your cOuntenanco
light up with the thought: Nearer home.
Now, when one can sooner get to the cen
ter Of things, is he not to be congratulated
Who wants to be always in the freshman
classl We study God in this world by the
Biblical photograph of Him; but we all
know we can in five minutes of interview
with friend get more accurate idea of
him than we can by studying him fifty
years through pictures or words. The lit
tie child that died at six months of age
knows more of God than all Andover and
all Princeton, and all New Brunswick and
all Edinburgh, and all the theological insti-
tuition in Chrstendom. Is it not better to
go up TO the very headquarters Of knowl-
edgei
Docs not our common sense teach us
that it is better to be at the center than to
be clear ont on the rim of The wheel hold.
ing nervously fast to the tire lest we be
Suddenly hurled into light and eternal fe-
licityl Through all kinds of optical lnstru-
ments trying to peer IN through the cracks
and the keyhol0s Of Heaven-afraid that
both doors of the celestial mansion will be
swung wide open before our entranced Wis
ion-rushing about among the apothecary
shops of this world, wondering If this is
good for rheumatism and that is good for
neuralgia, and something else is good for a
bad cough, lest we be suddenly ushered into
land of everlasting health where the in
habtant never says: 81 alh sick"
What fools we all are to prefer the cir
cumference to the center. What dreadful
thing it would be if we should suddenly be
ushered from this wintry world into the
May time orchards of Heaven, and if our
pauperism of sin and sorrow should be
suddenly broken up by presentation of
an Emperor's castle surrounded by parks
with springing fountains and paths, up and
down which angels of God walk two and
two
In 1885 the French resolved that at
Client they would have kind of musical